Great River Taoist Center Forums

Hi Scott,

Missed your reply.

Thanks, and you are right.. Actually sometimes I think Cricket Shin guards would be a good idea. Its all too easy for deflection to go the wrong way sometimes.

Hello Everyone. Well. Stricktly speaking this sword is not a chinese origin, or chinese technique either. But I thought I would share this with you out of personal accomplishment. This sword is the first I've built myself. Mostly I do smaller blades. But I wanted to build something both durable, and...

How much cash did you destroy that way ? interesting turn of phrase :) I looked at the website that Linda received them from. a 5 pack is 37.50Australian dollars.. the problem is that shipping to NZ might double that cost, so I cant justify it yet. perhaps one of the Japanese schools might bulk ord...

One Other Thought.. This is a single cut video I recorded testing a sword I made recently. its primarily a heavy convex blade similar to a Japanese sword with heavy convex. Primarily the reason I'd like to share this with you is the opinions on Cardboard as a cutting medium.. This is standard Roll C...

I'm looking forward to your opinion of the mats before I consider getting any.. The supplier is trying to find someone to do a bulk purchase in NZ, and distribute here because of the high shipping costs. One thing I wonder is.. how are people soaking the mats.. If you dont have a Bathtub.. what else...

Wow.. All of this over a naming convention.. There are 2 reasons to name a sword. Pride and Purpose. Pride is what has instilled owners over the centuries to gift a sword with a name, much like naming a steed that will carry you to battle, or a hound that will protect you. Pride in your weapon can i...

A prime example of the Chinese lack of emphasis on uniforms are the films/pictures of old Chinese masters teaching with a dress shirt/pants and a cigarette dangling out of their mouth. hehe.. I wonder if this is also some form of simple humility of the craft. They see the art as simply a part of th...

Sorry Aidan.. I my point was that you are correct that if you wish to use the chinese word (as you already use Jian) then thats correct. but I dont find the use of the foreign words exotic, or enhancing what it is in any way. as long as there is a consistency, then that is the best. But the answer w...

I have to agree that the Japanese are only using the word Bokken because it means wooden sword. There is no special intent behind it. When studying JMA you learn everything in Japanese simply because the Sensei teach you in Japanese, (because they in turn learnt the art in Japanese) and for comprehe...

The Dowel size really depends on what you are sticking into it. If you are going to be putting babmoo inside a matt then the dowel needs to fit in there. I am guessing 2cm to 1" is a good size. Thats what ive used in the past. On a tight rolled matt it will push in tightly and hold it up. with the b...

This style of stand is the simplest and cheapest to make; http://www.bugei.com/images/Cutting_Stand_single.jpg It requires about $20 of weatherproof 4"x4" wood.. (10cm Square) Which you cut into 5 lengths. 4 identical feet and the stand at the height you require. You then Drill holes to lock the fee...

I just finished making a sword last week, so I went out and chopped a good bit of bamboo this weekend to test it out. I'll probably order some mats from this site because they say they are the proper quality test cutting mats. its worth trying it out at least one time or 2 ;) I made the blade out of...

I'm in the same boat that they are just too expensive to warrant use day to day. There is one sword seller here that charges $15NZ per mat.. for 3 seconds of testing it seems too much. I'll be interested to see what cost they will sell and ship to New Zealand for. I've personally not used the mats b...

it probably should not have twisted the handle.. but there is a chance that when you edge alignment is off and your hand (holding the wood handle with a secure grip ) is going one vector and the blade is attempting to twist and go another vector, that the torque produced to bend the blade also twist...

Mark. You probably would have been better with the machete for that task as they are more forgiving. Long swords are designed with durability first due to the length and the stresses and force of impact they have to deal with. The reason so many swordsman train so hard and so long on getting 100% co...